3 ways of finding a useful SEO – and avoiding a bad one.

Let’s get one thing straight, Search Engine Optimization is not black magic – it’s a necessary and scale-able business process that uses the quality of your business and leverages its potential towards success.

It should not be treated as an add-on, extra or optional piece of your Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC). It is an important and integral portion of the larger marketing strategy that you have probably already spent all of your time, money and resources building thus far. With Attention-based marketing taking over, I foresee many businesses failing to accept this well-founded truth. The foundations of their outdated marketing channels are slowly chipping away, and good SEO, paired with a well-built content strategy, is necessary to reinforce, stabilize and carry the business forward.

Unfortunately, we live in an age of lazy “marketers” chasing a quick buck, that prey on the ignorance that technological change drags in its coattails. With so many, lurking “agency’s” in the mix that claims to know SEO, it is difficult to see the entire practice in a positive light. That’s why we are happy to share Google’s very own checklist for breaking through this noise and finding the best Search Engine professionals to help you navigate your digital marketing endeavors.

So let’s begin, shall we?

1. The Best SEO’s will always need TIME to integrate best practices into your brand.

An SEO’s vision should concern making the client’s website user-friendly and useful for target customers. This will always take time, if done the right way. Over the years, we have been bombarded with provocative, quick-and-easy digital marketing fixes, when this is not the case if you want it to work for you. In reality, expert SEO’s will usually need 4 months to a year to help your business implement improvements and see the benefits from them. There is no guaranteed “quick and easy” search marketing strategy and this process should be handled with expert care at all times.

2. The Best SEO’s recommend well-backed, best practices for search friendly websites.

A good SEO will provide recommendations as well as support from Google’s very own documentation on best practices. This should include:

A description of present issues with the site

A detailed approach to implementing or fixing the online brand’s site.

It is best to always check with Google sources about an SEO’s recommendation validity, and there is nothing like your own research that can help you discern the truth. If something seems fishy, it's always worth it to double-check available resources.

3. Doing what is good for SEO, is also good for your online customers.

You would think more people understood this simple way of thinking about SEO, it is surprising how many forget this big picture guideline for your digital presence. This is a great way of putting a positive perspective on the practice of SEO. It is truly an attempt to understand each individual customer in the market and give them the quality of service and experience that they deserve from your business.

Here are some ways to ensure you are taking advantage of the simple stuff:

Have a mobile friendly website

Have intuitive Navigation

Build a positive brand perception

If you are an established brand, you will want to begin with paying off your website's “technical debt”. This includes:

Updating Site infrastructure

Improving Site Agility (Think Content)

Improving Long-term mobility – having to constantly recreate a web presence can be expensive!

It’s no secret that SEO is difficult to keep up with. To make things easier, don’t forget to pay attention to the simple things you can do to keep your vision on track and compliant with Google’s changing ecosystem. At Bare Knuckle Digital, we understand the importance of doing our homework and we want those we work with to be as informed as possible. To us, it is a service of efficiency, transparency and validity. If you are interested in implementing this vision of SEO into your daily process please send us a message below, we love to connect with passionate, forward thinking minds.